Two years on from his death, the family of a stroke victim have opened a hospital day room in his memory.
Roy Hudson’s widow Gladys, 86, and family raised £4,000 to refurbish the room at the John Radcliffe’s Stroke Unit and unveiled it on Wednesday.
The room, to be used as place for patients and their families to relax and talk to doctors in private, has been kitted out with a sofa, armchairs, coffee table, dining room table, dining chairs, wall-mounted plasma TV, lamps, scatter cushions and pot plants. Pride of place goes to a framed montage of photographs taken at events where the family raised the money.
Mrs Hudson, of St John’s Drive, Carterton and her five daughters Ann, 59, Shirley, 58, Carol, 56, Helen, 54 and Jo, 51 handed over a second cheque on the day.
Also present at the ceremony were four of her 21 grandchildren and one of her 17 great grandchildren, four-year-old Harry. Mr Hudson’s brother Maurice, 89 and sister Mary, 82, will travel from Bristol and Chippenham.
Mr Hudson suffered a stroke in 2009 and was treated at the John Radcliffe Hospital. While there, his family noticed there was no area for patients and their families coming to terms with difficult situations. They set about raising the money for the day room by running car boot and garage sales, raffles and catering at parties. Mrs Hudson’s granddaughter Becky, 25, raised £500 by having her head shaved.
The family returned to the unit last year, on the first anniversary of Mr Hudson’s death, to present the cheque for £4,000 to former ward sister Sarah Wheeler and her team. This week’s opening of the day room marks the second anniversary of his death.
Mrs Hudson said: “When we lost Roy we wanted to do something that would help other families. I talked to my girls about it and they said ‘Of course we can’. They’ve all done something to help and even the ones who don’t live close by have travelled down for events. I always seemed to be selling raffle tickets.
Deputy ward sister Ruth Bennett said: “The new day room looks absolutely fantastic and it’s lovely that someone’s taken the time and effort to do this. “Before, the families had nowhere nice to sit. There was just an empty bay that we used as a ward which looked boring and horrible.“
